What We Live For
By
Osper
The metal cuffs were too tight around his giant hooves and the short chain binding them looped through a ring in the floor that pulled his arms forward. His head had been chained to the wall and his back hurt from the uncomfortable sitting position he’d been in since after his trial two days ago.
Big Macintosh had watched the moonlight shift the shadow of the bars along the grey stone wall as his mind wandered over the last few days leading to his imprisonment.
---
He looked out the window to Sweet Apple Acres, just past the wooden fence encircling their home and out to the bare trees that signaled the end of Applebuck season and the start of winter. It had been hard, sweaty work but they’d gotten through another year and had made a decent profit.
Finishing the daisy sandwich he’d been working on and carefully wrapping it in a handkerchief, he slid it into his little sister’s saddle pack. Applebloom still had school to attend and now that Macintosh had free time he was going to make her lunch every day.
The clop of hooves on the second floor alerted him to his awakened sisters who both came down yawning and offering semi-intelligible greetings.
“Mornin’ Macintosh.”
“Mornin’ Big Brother.”
“Hi girls.”
The girls sat at the table, both tired looking but so used to waking early that they couldn’t sleep in. Applejack poured a bowl of cereal for herself and then another for Applebloom who ate it slowly while she waited for her brain to wake up, nearly nodding off in the bowl. Macintosh glanced up at the small ticking clock over the sink and gave his little sister a tap on the shoulder.
“Applebloom, you better get going. Field trip today.”
Her eyes lit up as she remembered.
“Oh yeah! Thanks Big Mac, Ah’d better go. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle wanted to meet early to talk about something.”
She slung her saddle packs over her flank and hurried to the door, briefly nuzzling her brothers’ neck as she left. Macintosh stood at the door, watching her until she was gone from sight.
“And what about you AJ? Any plans today?”
She yawned, her legs sore from the last day of bucking. They usually took a day off after the actual picking to recharge before they started with the final sales of the season.
“Thought I’d go into town, pick up some groceries. You?”
“Broken fence needs fixing. Reckon Ah’d better get it out of the way.”
She nodded, picking around in their refrigerator for something besides cereal.
“You should really relax a bit. I’m sure you’re just as sore as I am and I’d rather you didn’t get hurt again.”
He nodded, already heading outside.
“I will but the fence really needs to be fixed. Don’t worry.”
He left her behind and walked to the barn to get the nails and a new plank. Far, far off on the distant mountain, he could see Canterlot. You could see it from anywhere in Ponyville actually, but the farm was further out and got the more overall view. The waterfall on the outmost side of the city and castle was barely a speck, twinkling as the sun rose behind it.
A shiver ran through his back, the wind already chilled for the approaching winter. The Pegasi had scheduled a cold front for today and he could tell it was going to be an exceptionally cold one this year. He added getting the winter blankets down from the attic to his list of things to do.
The door creaked slightly as he pulled it open, the dark barn just begging for a candle to light it. With this years haul, he thought they really ought to consider getting electric lights installed on the farm.
His electrical musings suddenly jarred from his mind as the force of what had to be a train slamming into him sent Macintosh flying back through the open door, rolling along the ground and kicking up the dirt. Chickens scattered as he came to a stop where they’d been pecking the ground. His jaw had never hurt as much as that moment but an intense pressure on his side held him down, coming in a close second as the pressure increased.
“Don’t worry. This won’t hurt at all.”
He thrashed, getting the first glimpse of another white stallion who held him to the ground, his heavy hoof grinding into Macintosh’ side, the other hoof holding a small vial that the white Unicorn splashed in his face. He coughed wildly as he breathed it in, Macintosh tossing off the other stallion and getting wobbly to his feet. He blinked rapidly, his eyes stinging as his legs buckled under him.
“What…what was that!?”
The other pony doubled, tripled, Macintosh unable to stand any more as the world spun around him.
The unicorn walked over, leaning in close to Macintosh’ ear.
“Just go to sleep and know that you have done something very good for Equestria.”
A cry from his sister caught his attention, her orange body charging towards them as his vision grew black.
---
When he’d awoken he was already in custody, shackled to the wall in a jail cell with guards already waiting to talk to him. He’d been questioned for hours, the guards saying more and more alarming things that he had no memory of but was nonetheless held responsible for.
He’d killed six ponies and injured several more in a series of attacks that had lasted two hours, up until the royal guard showed and found him unconscious on the farm.
The trial had been speedy thanks to the mostly empty courts of Equestria and held only a single day after the incident.
Celestia had been the premier judge in something she had made a very high profile case. Why shouldn’t she? It had been one of her closest friends and students who had been killed as well as the many friends her student had made.
His lawyer, a fresh-out-of-law-school foal named Pro Bono had barely defended him at all, preferring to knuckle under and do as little work as possible in front of the angry countenance of the Sun Goddess.
The evidence, eye witness reports from almost all of Ponyville, blood found on his own hooves, testimony from those who had spoken to him or at him during the two hours, his own quiet temperament that ponies now recalled as sort of unsettling, had all been used against him. The trial had been attended by practically every citizen of Ponyville, ready to see justice be done.
No one would even listen to his story about a white stallion, laughing at him, openly wondering just how stupid he was to come up with such an obvious lie.
He hadn’t seen Applebloom at the trial and no one would tell him where she was or if she was okay. He was being treated like the scum of Equestria.
Guilty.
Six counts of murder, each body thrashed beyond recognition. Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie were the victims, his mouth dropping open with every name listed.
Several dozen cases of assault as others attempted to stop him.
He’d had no memory of any of these allegations, only recalling that he’d been asleep the whole time.
The last thing he’d said, or been allowed to say before her own guards had had to hold Princess Celestia back from murdering him right there was,
“Princess, Ah didn’t do it.”
---
Two rough knocks on the door interrupted his thoughts as it swung open. Two guards entered, an earth pony and a unicorn, two more guards outside.
He stared at them, watching the angry and repulsed expressions on their faces, not that he could look away anyway.
“You’re making a mistake, Ah didn’t do it!”
They ignored him, as much as one earth pony hocking back and spitting on his face was ignoring, his words having no effect on them.
He was stood up, the unicorn guard binding his back hooves with another set of chains.
He was led through the still dark corridors of the castle, a clock telling of the mere ten minutes until scheduled sunrise. They finally led him out a door and into a courtyard, the viewing platform for the sun raising ceremony visible. Closer was a small marble platform with a tall stone structure housing a sharpened blade waiting just for him.
His sentence had been death by guillotine.
He stopped a moment and felt the morning wind in his mane, the feeling of soft earth beneath his hooves. One of the guards shoved him roughly, forcing him to move again.
A hooded figure stood by the guillotine. It was taller than even Macintosh but only barely.
There were very few murderers in Equestria, so few that a dragon could count a decades worth on a single clawed hand. As such, very few knew of the special ceremony that accompanied an execution.
The figure drew back its hood, revealing the dark complexion of Princess Luna under the remaining moonlight.
She spoke quietly, looking into his eyes.
“Big Macintosh, for the sins thou hast committed fueled by the darkness in thine heart, thy sentence has been death. Our sincere hope is that thine darkness will be left behind and purified by the rising sun. May thou find peace in the next life.”
His yoke was removed, the unicorn guard planting his hooves forcefully when he realized just how heavy it was and that his magic wasn’t strong enough to hold it up long.
“Dost thou have anything to say?”
The Princess asked him, waiting patiently.
He thought back, to last night and the visitor he’d had, a visitor no one else had seen.
---
“Hello, Macintosh.”
He lowered his head, losing count of all the cracks in the ceiling, surprised at the sudden intrusion. No door had opened, no mystical portal, but the white unicorn stood before him. The red stallion’s body jerked, practically tearing the anchors out of the wall in one sweep. The unicorn flew forward quickly, pinning Macintosh down.
“Please, calm down young man. Without my poisons and gases, a fair fight would be…much too fair for my taste.”
Macintosh glared, considering biting him as hard as he could. The Unicorn placed one heavy hoof on the younger pony’s chest to hold him there, a leg and hoof that glinted, covered in what seemed like black plate mail.
The unicorn smiled at him, attempting friendliness.
“I know you’re going to be executed tomorrow. I very much just wanted to thank you for taking the fall. By assuming your looks, I created a perfect alibi. I will never be found out and my work will continue, until the day I can reveal myself to the world once more, this time to adulation instead of banishment.”
He tried to move but there was too much strength holding him down and not enough leverage to break it. Gritting his teeth, he asked just one question.
“Why did you kill my sister?”
The unicorn smiled back.
“Macintosh, your sister and everyone else…they’re still alive. Considering their individual abilities and the fact that they can use the Elements of Harmony? Why, it’d be a crime to kill them.”
He thought a moment, bringing a hoof to his mouth.
“Well, more of a crime.”
“But, the bodies-!”
“Brainless homunculi! My boy, it’s child’s play to make a body!”
He took his hoof off Macintosh and turned his back, his body slowly fading from view.
“Thank you Macintosh. You have become a martyr for science this day.”
---
He was back in the courtyard, the princess before him, the guards near.
Digging into the soft soil, he began to feel energy flow from the dirt through his hooves, rejuvenating his tired body.
“Princess…Ah’m awful sorry.”
Pegasi could fly and control the weather with practice. Everyone knew that.
Unicorns could perform magical feats with practice. Everyone knew that.
What most ponyfolk didn’t know was the magic of earth ponies, even many earth ponies themselves. The magic that let them draw strength from the earth, to increase stamina or even physical strength for working the land.
If Twilight was the paragon of Unicorn magic and Rainbow was the Paragon of Pegasus flight, Big Macintosh was the Paragon of Earth Pony might, something he’d learned from his own father who had taught him to work the farm before his death.
The chains binding his legs together shattered as he pulled them apart, his back legs kicking out and sending the unicorn guard flying. The second guard was stunned just long enough for Macintosh to turn on him, slamming him down into the dirt with as non-lethal a tap as he could manage, still denting the guards’ helmet and sending him into unconsciousness.
The other two guards quickly closed in on him, both Pegasus ponies. Princess Luna called for more guards, aghast that someone would attempt to sully the holiness of a purification execution.
The sun began to rise slowly, Celestia probably on her balcony, completely unaware as yet of the commotion. Luna called again, louder, entreating any guard who could hear the ruckus to hurry.
The Pegasus guards floated over head, each attempting to dive bomb the freakishly strong pony, to attack and run so he couldn’t get a hold of either of them.
He grasped one of the slower flier’s tails in passing, throwing him to the ground, pounding him once on the skull to put his lights out. The other dove down, hoping to catch him distracted but got a surprise hoof to the mouth, sending him crashing to the dirt, his eyes rolling around in his head.
There they were. Servants were looking out windows, guards pouring from doorways at the Princess call. She spread her wings to intimidate him, her horn glowing as she readied a spell in case she had to fight.
“Stop this Macintosh! Thou art only making it harder on thyself!”
The Royal Canterlot voice might have cowed him any other time, but he had to escape. His sister was out there somewhere, in the hands of a mad pony and he wasn’t going to just let it end like this.
The guards were upon him attempting to encircle any escape route.
He turned, flipping his yoke up onto his neck and running full tilt for the Ceremonial sun raising stage, Pegasi flying above, the pounding of hooves behind. Flashes of magic from the Unicorns struck the ground around him, some striking his flank, stinging his magic-pumped body.
He set hoof to the marble stone, immediately losing the flow of energy from the earth. The only weakness to Earth Pony magic was a need for constant contact with real, unworked earth or stone.
The energy slackened moment by moment as his hooves pushed him closer to the railing.
Princess Luna flew ahead, her massive wings beating as she hovered just at the edge of the rail, her horn glowing as she tried to stun the stallion, hoping to paralyze him with a spell before he died his own way, leaping off the edge of Canterlot to the sharp rocks of the mountain below.
Guards slid to a stop behind him as he stepped up on the rail, Luna hitting him with the spell just as he leapt forward, paralyzing his body into what was now a very heavy and fast missile coming straight at her.
His body struck hers, his limbs tangling around wings as they plummeted, the side of the mountain shooting by, faster and faster.
Big Macintosh couldn’t move but he saw the lake far, far below, the one he had hoped was on this side of the mountain, that the waterfall from Canterlot emptied into.
Luna screamed, her wings frantically trying to beat but held down by the paper weight she had unintentionally created.
Forcing herself to calm down, she was able to banish the effect on him, the stallion shaking his head as he noticed the rapidly approaching cliff face.
“Ge-get off me!”
He didn’t respond, gripping her tightly as he kicked off the edge of the wall, sending them both tumbling end over end, the world flipping round and round far too quickly for the ball of red and purple to know what was coming.
With the last of the power he’d gathered from the earth, Macintosh tried to toughen his hide, hoping very hard that he didn’t end up using the princess as a shield against the pool they were going to slam into very soon.
Big Mac got his wish, pain blowing through his back as he passed through the rock hard surface of the water, feeling the earth magic stripped from his body like his very flesh.
The air shot from his lungs, escaping in bubbles towards the surface which told him which way to turn his pained body. His head broke surface, gasping for air as he paddled for shore. He bumped into the dark body of Luna, seeing that she was floating but barely conscious. Swimming up under her, he pulled her to shore, her soaking wings plopping onto the mud of the bank as he let her drop.
As much as he’d like to make sure she was okay, there was very little chance he could do it and escape too. A weak voice called out to him as he turned to trot off into the trees.
“Stop…”
She was trying to stand, her wings in pain even if he’d taken the brunt of the landing.
“Like I said Princess, Ah’m sorry.”
He limped off into the forest.
---
“What’s the situation?”
It hadn’t taken long for the news to reach the ears of High Guard Captain Iron Flank, who had rushed to the execution site. There were very few guards left in the castle, all non-essential ponypower being diverted to the chase. The unicorn he talked to nursed his sore head, having volunteered to stay behind and fill in their leader.
“We sent some Pegasus Carriers down with Earth Ponies and they’re sweeping the forest. Princess Luna was hurt but not badly and she’s with the doctor and her sister right now. We don’t understand how it happened. He wasn’t that strong before.”
“Typical. Non-unicorns don’t know magic when they see it and I figured it out from the description.”
Iron Flank had several specialized guards under his direct command and Meteor Storm had just joined him at the scene of the escape. The yellow unicorn was the best combat mage around and on magical matters involved in crimes, he was the first Iron Flank turned to.
“So tell, Meteor. And make it fast.”
“It’s, and forgive the oxymoron, earth pony magic. Not exactly common any more but pops up from time to time. It’s a combat enhancer that builds strength, defense, stamina, speed and other base, physical skills. Very effective in its brutish way.”
Iron Flank looked around the area, seeing nothing worth investigating, the beat of running hooves slowing down as they approached him.
Cantrip, his only female guard member and Unicorn in charge of Communications and Teleportation, had arrived. She wasn’t built for combat but her magic let soldiers move around a battlefield much more efficiently. That, and she took care of the mess that was Iron Flank’s office.
“Sorry I’m late sir. I was doing your paper work.”
“Don’t worry, just get a team together. This is a stain on the honor of every guard here and especially on her Highness. I won’t allow it to go on any longer. How about Earth Mover, Cherry Tapper and Rain Bullet, they’ll be a good team. You too, Meteor. Go.”
They saluted their leader and went about their business.
He turned to the risen sun, feeling as though Celestia could see every move he was making.
“Don’t worry, Goddess. I wont let anyone sully your name.”